Nearly all locations within the United States and Canada are now served by “9-1-1” emergency telephone service, and many other countries have similar services. In the 9-1-1 system, calls to the telephone number 9-1-1 are specially routed to a public safety answering point (PSAP), where a specially-trained dispatcher can assess the nature of the emergency, offer assistance, dispatch emergency services or law enforcement personnel to the source of the call, or provide other services. Many PSAPs are interconnected to allow routing calls and other information between them. The 9-1-1 service facilitates rapid response by the appropriate authorities in cases of emergency.
Some private organizations offer telephone-based assistance services, for example navigation assistance, concierge services, health monitoring services, and the like. While these private assistance services are not intended to replace the 9-1-1 system, in some cases a client of a private telephone assistance service may call the familiar private assistance service in the event of an emergency, rather than 9-1-1. In such a case, it is highly desirable that the client receive emergency assistance without delay.